Award

Private Rented Sector Licensing and Inspection

READING BOROUGH COUNCIL

This public procurement record has 4 releases in its history.

Award

10 Apr 2026 at 10:18

Award

05 Dec 2025 at 10:24

TenderUpdate

11 Sep 2025 at 14:22

Tender

10 Sep 2025 at 11:24

Summary of the contracting process

The procurement process, led by Reading Borough Council, focuses on securing a delivery partner for the "Private Rented Sector Licensing and Inspection" in Reading, UK. The process falls under the housing and property services industry category, covering regions such as Battle, Park, and Redlands wards. Initiated through an open procurement method, this tendering process has progressed to the award stage with significant developments as of 10th April 2026, including the contract award to HOME SAFE DELIVERY PARTNERS LTD. The contract spans a five-year term with potential extensions up to seven years, valued at £4,174,000 in total. The selection of this supplier followed a statutory consultation exercise and focused on managing licensing schemes for private rented sectors in areas characterized by varying property conditions.

This procurement opportunity provides substantial avenues for growth for businesses involved in property management services, especially those with expertise in residential and non-residential property renting or leasing, software programming, and data services. Companies capable of delivering application processing, inspections, and compliance monitoring are particularly well-suited to this contract. The partnership with Reading Borough Council in this innovative and comprehensive programme to improve housing conditions can enhance reputations and expand business networks, affirming a firm's role in pivotal public sector projects. Competitive businesses in the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, such as HOME SAFE DELIVERY PARTNERS LTD, have demonstrated the potential to successfully capture this market, offering valuable lessons for others looking to engage in similar procurement processes.

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Notice Title

Private Rented Sector Licensing and Inspection

Notice Description

The Council currently operates a licensing scheme under the housing Act 2004 for larger houses in multiple occupation with 5 or more occupants, this is the national mandatory licensing scheme. Approximately 1,400 properties are licenced (or in the process of being licenced) on this scheme. The Housing Act contains provisions for the Council to designate discretionary licensing schemes, additional licensing to cover smaller houses in multiple occupation and selective licensing to cover all rented properties, within a designated area. The evidence to support introduction of discretionary licensing scheme was gathered through a Boroughwide Stock Condition Survey. The main features of the Stock Condition Survey included: o Reading's Private rented Sector (PRS) is now calculated to be 39.9% of all housing stock. o The PRS in Reading is distributed across all 16 wards. o Reading has a mixture of high and low deprivation wards. 8 of 16 wards have aggregated IMD rankings below the national average. o Reading has a lower proportion in fuel poverty (10.3%) than the national average. o There are 4,297 private rented properties in Reading that are likely to have at least 1 serious housing hazard distributed across all wards. o Reading Borough Council recorded 3,117 complaints and service requests from private tenants and others linked to PRS properties over 5-years. o 1,084 PRS properties are likely to fail the basic energy efficiency requirement. o Reading's house in multiple occupation (hmo) population has been estimated to comprise a total of 3,272 properties. o Analysis shows that 1,230 hmos in Reading are predicted to have at least one serious hazard. o During inspections, officers identified 701 Category 1 and 2 hazards (HHSRS). The full survey and accompanying report can be found in the papers for Housing, Neighbourhoods and Leisure Committee - Wednesday, 21st February, 2024 6.30 pm at democracy.reading.gov.uk 2.1.6 Following the stock condition report a statutory consultation exercise was completed in June-August 2024, which is published online at https://reading.govocal.com/en-GB/projects/prsconsultation The outcome of the consultation was a decision to proceed with the designation of both additional and selective licensing schemes. A further decision was made to seek a delivery partner to administer the scheme. This tender seeks a delivery partner, to support additional (hmo) licensing and selective licensing designations in Reading under the Housing Act 2004 parts 2 and 3. The Council has delegated powers to officers to designate four discretionary licensing schemes Additional hmo licensing scheme for smaller houses in multiple occupation (3-4 occupants). This would cover the whole Borough, equating to around 1600 properties. Section 257 hmos divided into self-contained flats are not proposed to be covered in the designation Selective licensing of all rented properties in Battle ward, to the west of Reading town centre. This is estimated to cover approximately 1800 properties. Selective licensing of all rented properties in Park ward, to the east of Reading close to the university. This is estimated to cover approximately 1500 properties. Selective licensing of all rented properties in Redlands ward, to the east of Reading close to the university and adjacent to Park ward. This is estimated to cover approximately 1900 properties. The estimated number of properties is based upon 80% of the predicted number of licensable properties identified in the stock condition report. A further delegation has been received to enter into a 5 year contract with the possibility of a 2 year extension to implement the schemes outlined in 3.2.1 and 3.2.2. Further extensions are subject to approval. The designations are proposed to be made to tackle the areas /sectors with the worst property conditions within the borough in particular relating to hazards and property conditions. The proposed selective licensing designations are proposed to be made on the ground of poor property conditions.

Lot Information

Lot 1

Renewal: A 2 year extension is available subject to the specified requirements being met as outlined in the specification project scope.

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-05977c
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/032724-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

70 - Real estate services

72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support


CPV Codes

70210000 - Residential property renting or leasing services

70220000 - Non-residential property renting or leasing services

70331000 - Residential property services

72200000 - Software programming and consultancy services

72300000 - Data services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£2,654,880 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
£2,654,880 £1M-£10M
Awards Value
£3,479,000 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
£3,479,000 £1M-£10M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
10 Apr 20265 days ago
Submission Deadline
6 Oct 2025Expired
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
3 Dec 20254 months ago
Contract Period
26 Feb 2026 - 25 Feb 2031 Over 5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Active

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
READING BOROUGH COUNCIL
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
READING
Postcode
RG1 2LU
Post Town
Reading
Country
England

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLJ South East (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLJ1 Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLJ16 Berkshire West
Delivery Location
TLJ11 Berkshire

Local Authority
Reading
Electoral Ward
Abbey
Westminster Constituency
Reading Central

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

HOME SAFE DELIVERY PARTNERS

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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